Former CIA director Tenet: "Access to networks like the World Wide Web might need to be limited"

Former CIA director Tenet: "Access to networks like the World Wide Web might need to be limited"

Former CIA Director George Tenet sounded off on the internet. Read the article, especially this excerpt:

The way the Internet was built might be part of the problem, he said. Its open architecture allows Web surfing, but that openness makes the system vulnerable, Mr. Tenet said.

Access to networks like the World Wide Web might need to be limited to those who can show they take security seriously, he said.

Mr. Tenet called for industry to lead the way by 'establishing and enforcing' security standards. Products need to be delivered to government and private-sector customers 'with a new level of security and risk management already built in.'

Well, the last paragraph is a nobrainer, sure, everything should be 'secure by default'. Although, I have the feeling by 'risk-management' he means, 'Big Brother'-ish Digital Rights Management hardware. Those first two statements - I couldn't disagree more. First, openness and transparency is the last thing this country has going for it. Second, the Internet has just started, and the WWW is nothing compared to what we'll be doing in 20 years. Stifling innovation with government intervention at this point in the development of technology would be a huge mistake.

Somehow I missed this. I only caught it because it was mentioned on an early December program from Democracy Now.